Birthday Memories
by BlueViolets87
Summary: A young Donna Noble's birthday was planned to be one of the most boring birthdays ever after her parents had to leave for an emergency. She was going to have none of that though, and with the help of a future friend, maybe it won't be so boring.


**A/N Well hi there! This is written in honor of one of the coolest people I know Invisiblegirl3! She really is such an amazing person who also can write really really well! She writes a splatter of stories of different fandoms but especially Harry Potter. So what are you waiting for? **

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Donna sat alone at the kitchen table, a balloon attached to her chair and a cold poorly frosted cake in front of her that read Happy Birthday Donna! in shaky green scowled down at it, waiting for her parents to come back. They had left in the middle of their little party after her Granddad got stuck at work and it had been almost an hour since they were there.

"Some birthday this is," Donna said bitterly, glaring down at her cake as though it had personally caused everyone to leave. "This is ridiculous."

She pushed back her chair and stood up, looking out the window. It was not yet quite dark out with the sky only slightly orange, for the most part it was still a blue sunny day, perfect for exploring. Donna was ten now, time to take advantage of it. Despite the small warning bells in her head of all the trouble she would get into later, Donna left her house, heading left towards the center of town. People peered at her curiously from their porches and windows but none made any effort to approach the girl. Donna prefered it that way. Still slightly hurt to be left alone on her birthday, Donna was in no mood to talk to anyone. So when a strange, skinny man came barreling into her, she was ready to start biting his head off. "Oi! Watch where you're going mate!" she said sharply, pulling herself off the ground despite the man's attempts to help her up.

"Well aren't you a ball of sunshine!" The man responded, finally looking her in the eyes. He pause for a moment, a hint of recognition flashing across his face. He was wearing a long trench coat despite it being the middle of spring. The was the first thing Donna noticed about him. That and his long puff like hair that trembled as though a rabbit was hiding within. "Have you seen a person run by here?" he asked her, distracted as he searched through the tables that lined the street, trying not to look at her.

"Just you."

"He's got to be here somewhere!" the man muttered to himself. " Blasted Gurnkles!" He could feel Donna's eyes still firmly on his back. "Well what is it?"

"Maybe I can help! I've been told that I'm pretty good at finding things especially things I shouldn't see," Donna said with more enthusiasm than she had all day. Finally something interesting happening around here!

The man looked at her beaming slightly like a moron. "That would be brilliant! I'm looking for a 7 cm. tall man with spikes all down its back. Think you can handle that?"

Donna grinned. "Most definitely." She began searching all around, lifting up lamps and pushed aside a large stack of monopoly board games of different varieties that lay next to one of the tables in a heap on the ground, trying to find the little person with spikes down its back. She barely bothered with the fact that she didn't know anything else about the little person in the hope that she would just know right away. Finally, when she lifted up a small mug on the table, a pale blue person the size of a doll was looking frantically around. The spikes on its back flared up and down. Holding her breath, Donna put down the mug, glad that the figure hadn't seen her yet.

"Sir?" she asked the tall man, tapping his back. "Oh, no not sir. I'm... John Smith." He turned around to look back at her with a friendly smile. She blushed slightly, looking up at him with her moonlike eyes. He suppressed a burst of laughter, would his Donna be mortified later with this memory.

"Is the person blue, about this big?" She held up her hands to indicate the size. He nodded vigorously. In response, she lifted up the mug and pointed at the little person. It turned around and bared its teeth at her, hissing threateningly. It spat up bright blue saliva that would have landing right in Donna's face if "John Smith" hadn't pulled her down. The saliva landed behind them, bubbling and hissing. The person hopped off the table and started to run. With a frustrated but incoherent mumble, the strange man jumped to his feet. He pointed a small but stout silver stick at it pressing a button to make the blue tip glow and make a funny sort of noise like one of those toy all the boys on the playground would chase each other around with. Donna wrinkled her nose, wasn't he too old to be playing with such toys? Unlike the playground toy though, as he pointed the wand like object at the small creature, it froze. Donna held her breath in amazement, now that was a cool toy. She could see the creature struggling, trying to break free but John Smith simply walked over and picked him up, inspecting him.

"Thought you could get away, eh you little bugger?" he said, cheerfully although almost in a mocking way. Putting the frozen midget into his pocket, he finally turned back to Donna. "Now, it's your birthday isn't it?" he asked her, noticing the sticker Donna had forgotten that she was wearing on her shirt.

Blushing slightly, she just responded with a maybe. "Where's your parents?" he continued asking as though he had as much time in the world as he needed. "Out helping my granddad get home. Apparently it was an emergency." Donna responded bitterly. "Someone was supposed to come take care of me but they haven't yet and I was bored." Afraid the man would call her parents after she blurted all this out, she crossed her arms to let him know that she wouldn't leave. "So I took a walk."

"Of course you did!" He laughed in amusement though not amazement as some adults would if not the kind that would send her home right away. "You could probably take care of yourself. You seem like a smart girl." Donna smiled almost shyly at the compliment, slightly taken aback. Suddenly the man began shifting through his pockets, reaching his hand so far in that the pocket seemed though it would swallow his entire hand. "I have just the thing for someone like you!" He pulled a thin hairpin with droplets attached that seemed to be made of gleaming ice that could never melt out of his pocket.

Donna looked at him, slightly disappointed by the gift. "A hairpin?" she confirmed, uneasily. It seemed like one of the cheap presents her mother would buy her last-minute.

"Mr. Smith" smiled, expecting that exact reaction. "Not just any hairpin but a wishing hairpin. Pick off a droplet whenever you want to make a wish and it will melt and come true."

Donna grinned brighter. A magic hairpin! Now that was different! She took the delicate present from him, thanking him after a bloated pause of forgetfulness. He gave her a two finger salute and a large grin. "See you around Donna Noble!"

Later that day, Donna hid the hairpin in a large drawer in her room where her mother would never look. Not only would it give away the fact that Donna had left the house alone but she knew neither of her parents would believe she was telling the truth. Years went by as Donna forgot all about that little hairpin, that past birthday just a fond memory in the back of her mind. She no longer believed that she had actually seen an actual tiny, blue person with spikes down its back but instead chocked it up to one too many slices of cake.

It wasn't until her wedding day that she even saw the hairpin again, tucked away with some clothes her mother was about to throw out before Donna stopped her. The droplets still gleamed and shimmered in the light, looking positively frozen despite the warm spring sun that heated the entire house. Donna looked at it, slightly remembering it. She was tempted just to toss it away but something inside of her wouldn't let her do that. As she slid it into her hair as a sort of wedding accessory that would garnish her veil a bit more, one droplet broke off, falling to the ground. Donna ignored it, continuing to get ready for her big day; the day that would finally be about her and Lance, but mostly her. She felt a tingle pass through her body as she drove to the church, wishing with all her might for this day to go perfectly. She surely wasn't expecting the yellow beam to wrap around her as she walked down the aisle, or the strange, skinny man to stare at her with slightly confused and tragic eyes.

As she was screaming at the man, who would lead her down a path she never dreamed of taking, he couldn't help but notice the garnish upon her veil. He had picked up a hairpin just like that in the market of Darnoonslich.


End file.
